Abstract
The main purpose of this thesis is to study the structures of self-assembled monolayers of several series of diacetylenic compounds adsorbed on various substrates through various binding interactions and the effect of external forces on the packing and possible oriented polymerization of these monolayers. Of particular interest is the feasibility of preparing an oriented monolayer such that upon UV-irradiation, topochemical polymerization along a specific direction can be achieved to give extensive ene-yne conjugated chains. In this work, a number of diacetylenic compounds differing in the terminal functional group (carboxylic acid, thiol, alcohol) were prepared. Different interactions (covalent, ionic, and H-bonding) are involved depending on the substrate (silver, gold, and aluminum) and the anchoring functional group. Self-assembled monolayers were prepared either by simple immersion or under the influence of a solution flow or a combination of both for various periods of time. The structures of the resulting monolayers upon UV-irradiation were characterized by reflective infrared absorption spectroscopy (RIAS), Raman spectroscopy and ellipsometry. The data were analyzed with respect to polymerizability of the monolayer and the directionality of conjugation. Under current conditions, no evidence of oriented polymerization has been found.